Woodward



Aug. 18, 1959 H. WOODWARD WALLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 29, 1956 INVENTOR.

7 HOBART WOODWARD BY ow FIG. 3,

United Sttes Patent WALLS Hobart Woodward, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company, Minneapolis,

Application June 29, 1956, Serial No. 594,850

g 12 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) This invention relates to building walls and is concerned particularly with walls which are located'where there is a temperature diiferential between opposite sides thereof, and more particularly in a'wall in which insulation is provided for retanding the transmission of heat therethrough. The invention has specific reference to a construction of a wall whereby paint failure due to vapor is substantially lessened if not entirely eliminated. The Walls disclosed in Patent No. 2,324,971 have vapor barriers on the warm side and a sheathing on the cold side that permits relative free passage of vapor therethrough. The present improvement provides means for the vapor passing through the sheathing to escape to the outside atmosphere.

Other and further objects of the invention and the advantages of the same will be pointed out hereinafter and indicated in'the appended claims or will be obvious to one skilled in the art upon understanding of the present disclosure.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 represents, diagrammatically, a wall developed in accordance with the invention showing the use of lap siding,

Figure 2 represents, diagrammatically, a wall made in accordance with the invention showing the use of a horizontally applied siding,

Figure 3, is a side view of a wall showing the sheathing before the siding is applied. The sheathing being provided with communicating networks of interconnecting passages with the passages being formed by juxtaposition-of the sheathing units,

Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views of sheathing showing the ,escape passages which may be provided by thejuxtaposition of sheathing elements,

Figure 8 is a rear face view of a horizontal siding element incorporating a part of the invention,

Figure .9 is an elevational View of a horizontal siding that may be used in connection 'with the wall incorporating the invention,

, Figure 111 is an end view of the siding shown in Figure 9, and

Figure .12 is an end view of the siding shown in Figure 10,

Referring to the drawings in detail, 10 indicates studding which supports the room side wall member which, in Figure 1, is fiberboard plaster base 12. On the stud space side of the plaster base is vapor barrier 14 which may be of any suitable material, for example the type disclosed in the patent above referred to. The inside wall as shown is plastered as shown at 16. It is to be understood that anon-plaster wall may be employed if desired.

The sheathing 18 may be of any suitable material but fiberboard provides the desired results. The sheathing on thesurface that faces the siding is provided with a communicating network of interconnecting channels 36,

" ice similar to the roof insulation disclosed in Patent No. 2,192,458 to Swenson et al. The sheathing may be in various sizes but it is more economical to use 4 foot by 8 foot sizes. The sheathing units may have the corner removed entirely around each unit to provide surface 26. When sheathing units are placed in juxtaposition, channels are provided.

The sheathing disclosed is corner notched, as at 28, entirely round each sheathing unit. In Figure 6 is disclosed how a shiplapped sheathing can be provided with channels when units are placed in juxtaposition. Figure 7 is shown how two boards may be laminated toprovide the desired results.

It is essential that the siding be provided with vents to the atmosphere to permit the vapor to escape. This could be accomplished by many means; for example a thin wedge shaped member could be driven between two courses of lapped siding near the upper portion of the wall.

Some means must be provided for permitting the escape of vapor from the interior of the wall but it is to be understood that any suitable means may be used.

The siding 20 shown in Figure 8 may be in the form of a rectangular strip of considerably greater length than width and the strip 20 may consist of any desirable material and high density cellulosic board has proven very satisfactory. Adjacent the longitudinal edge on one face there are provided discontinuous parallel members 23 and 24. These members may be formed integrally with the strip 20 or they may be separate lath-like members that are suitably secured to the strip 20. For example, they may be secured by adhesive material or by mechanical fastening devices. If desired, each succeeding row of bead-like members may gradually decrease in height from the lowermost to the uppermost. The grooves or valleys 21 in the bead-like members 23 are offset with respect to the grooves or valleys 25 in the bead-like member 24. It is desirable that the beads in a row above the lowermost row extend to the vertical edge of the strip 20. By this arrangement just disclosed water cannot be driven into the air space 22 and thus. result in the sheathing being wet. It is to be understood that the eifect of this discontinuous ridge ofbeads can behadby placing row 23 on the back of a strip 20 adjacent one edge and the row 24 on the opposite face adjacent the opposite edge but at a greater distance from thelongitudinal edge than the row 23. i

In Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12 are shown the arrangement of the strips or heads when vertical siding is employed. Generally, it is'preferred that vertical siding be provided with shiplapped edges as shown in Figure 9 at 40 and 44 or as shown in Figure 12 as indicated at 46 and 48. In Figures 9- and 11 the ridges or beads 42 are on one face of the shiplap while the ridges or beads 38 are on the oppposite face and the opposite edge of the strip 19. As can be clearly seen from Figure 9, the Valleys are discontinuations of the parallel beads 42 are oifset from the valleys of the beads 38. When the siding is applied to the sheathing the bead the greatest distance from the longitudinal edge of the strip should extend to the horizontal edges of the strip 19. In Figures 10 and 12 the ridges or beads 50 and 52 are arranged on one edge and one face of the strip 19. In either arrangement the discontinuations or valleys of the beads in one row will be oifset from the grooves or valleys in the adjacent row to provide tortuous vapor escape channels. The ridges or beads in a row beyond the first row, as previously pointed out, should extend to the edge of the siding strip 19.

What is claimed:

1. In a wall having an outer panel and a vapor barrier spaced from the outer panel, fiberboard sheathing forming part of said outer panel, said sheathing having on one face a communicating network of interconnecting channels, a covering material over the sheathing and covering the interconnecting channels, and means associated with the covering material to provide tortuous vapor escape channels.

2. In a Wall having inner and outer surfaces, a vapor barrier associated with the inner surface and sheathing comprising a series of fiber composition boards having high permeability forming the outer surface, said sheathing provided with a communicating network of interconnecting channels around the periphery of each board, siding material covering said sheathing and ridges and valleys associated with said siding for permitting the free escape of vapor to atmosphere.

3. In a wall having a vapor barrier and sheathing comprising a series of units, said sheathing provided with communicating network of interconnecting channels around each unit and siding covering said sheathing and provided with channels communicating with the outside atmosphere and with the surface of the sheathing to permit the escape of vapor to atmosphere.

4. In a Wall having a vapor barrier to prevent the passage of vapor therethrough, fiberboard sheathing permitting the easy passage of vapor therethrough, siding material covering the sheathing with tortuous passages formed by ridges and valleys in said siding to permit vapors passing through said sheathing to escape to the atmosphere.

5. In a wall having one surface of low permeability and spaced therefrom a surface of high permeability comprising a series of units, one face of said material of high permeability having a communicating network of interconnecting channels formed by grooves around each unit, siding material covering the face having the channels therein with passageways provided in said siding to permit the easy escape of vapor to atmosphere.

6. A siding strip comprising a substantially rectangular member of fibrous material, said strip having substantially parallel spaced ridges, spaced valleys in each of said spaced ridges, the valleys in one ridge offset from the valleys in the substantially parallel ridges to provide tortuous vapor escape channels and with the ridge of one of the parallel ridges extending to substantially the edge of the strip.

7. In a wall structure having the sheathing of high vapor permeability, siding units secured to the wall and covering the sheathing, said siding having adjacent edge portions a discontinuous ridge which cooperates with a ridge on' an adjacent siding unit whereby substantially parallel ridges are provided at joints between adjacent units forming tortuous vapor escape passages.

8. A Wall construction having a sheathing comprising a plurality of insulating units and a finishing siding material over said sheathing, each said unit being recessed around its periphery, such recesses in an assemblage of applied units cooperating and forming an intercommunieating network of connecting passages throughout the area of the sheathing, said finished siding having on one face adjacent one edge a plurality of substantially discontinuous ridges providing tortuous vapor escape passages.

9. An insulated wall construction comprising inner and outer panels, said panels spaced apart, a vapor barrier associated with the space formed by the inner and outer panels, sheathing forming part of the outer panel and spaced from the vapor barrier, covering material secured over and spaced from said sheathing forming air spaces between said covering materials and said sheathing, said covering material comprising a series of units, each unit having on one face a series of discontinuous and substan tially parallel ridges providing tortuous vapor escape passages for communicating with the said air spaces.

10. A wall structure for separating a warm atmosphere from a cold atmosphere, comprising in combination a series of spaced wall supports, sheathing comprising a plurality of units on the cold side of said supports, said sheathing having on one face a communicating network of interconnecting channels formed by recesses around the periphery of each unit, a warm side finishing structure secured to the supports, a moisture vapor barrier associated with warm side finishing material, siding material secured over the sheathing and covering the interconnecting channels, and means associated with the siding providing tortuous vapor escape channels.

11. A siding comprising substantially rectangular units, said siding having adjacent one edge portion on one face at least two spaced apart ridges, said ridges being discontinuous with the discontinuousness in one ridge being 01fset with respect to discontinuousness in an adjacent ridge to provide tortuous vapor escape channels, and one ridge of the at least two spaced apart ridges extending to the side edges of the unit.

12. A siding comprising substantially rectangular units, said siding having adjacent one edge portion on one face a series of spaced ridges with the ridges spaced the greatest distance from one edge portion of said unit extending to the side edges of said unit, said ridges being discontinuous with a discontinuousness in one ridge being oiiset with respect to discontinuousness of an adjacent ridge to provide tortuous vapor escape channels and to prevent water from being driven through said escape channels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,124,001 Elzey Jan. 5, 1915 1,534,511 Frederiksen Apr. 21, 1925 2,324,971 Woodward July 20, 1943 2,541,762 Heritage Feb. 13, 1951 2,724,872 Herbes Nov. 29, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 157,456 Australia July 6, 1954 

